Global Media News is a weekly webcast covering media news from around the world. GMN is a production of Media Studies students from the SUNY College @ Old Westbury. We scour the web for news about media, journalism and technology.

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10/04/2017

In a country where media is heavily regulated by its government, there aren’t many independent media news outlets available to Russian citizens. The most common source of news for Russians is television, where the people are fed with Kremlin filtered news.

In order to better understand Russian television, included in a Broadband TV News article are the total number of television channels in the country. "A total of 2,370 TV channels were identified as operating and accessible in Russia and/or having licenses to broadcast in the country, according to a new report of the European Audiovisual Observatory."

However, in an era of fake and state controlled news, one TV channel remains independent. Known as the "optimistic channel," TV Rain is a smaller scale news channel that touches on subjects the other major networks do not attempt to touch on.

“Nobody needs counter-propaganda,” said Mikhail Zygar, the editor-in-chief of the channel. “Our goal is not to fight anything, our goal is just to give people who don’t have real information the thing they don’t have.”

An example of TV Rain's coverage can be seen in an article titled, “What games are behind Putin's decisions, the ‘swelling’ Sobyaninskaya Moscow, and the growing rebellion of migrants,” translated from TV Rain’s official website. This channel dives into criticisms about Putin and governments practices, which is practically unheard of in the region. TV Rain emphasizes content over form and is often described as looking like student run television. The channel is produced differently than other major news channels that broadcast from huge studios with live audiences.

Natalia Sindeeva, founder and general director of TV Rain, has been praised for her work with the channel and “has twice won the ‘Russia’s media manager’ award for her work on radio (2004) and in television (2011).”

In an article written by The Guardian, a British news outlet, it discusses the issues TV Rain faces when trying to interview government officials. One of the popular segments on the channel is Hard Day’s Night. Hosted by Tikhon Dzyadko, Hard Day’s Night is one of the only political round table interview shows in Russia. Dzyadko and other journalists discuss the nations pressing political issues. Less and less political officials have been appearing on the show due to the reputation of the independent news channel and potential backlash they would receive from their superiors.

TV Rain came under fire when they posted an online survey on Twitter asking whether Leningrad should’ve been surrendered to the Nazis during WWII to save the lives taken during the siege. Since it is very uncommon and taboo to mention war efforts in Russia, almost every major cable provider country dropped TV Rain.

In addition to being dropped by these TV providers, Russian parliament passed laws banning advertising on cable channels, causing more trouble for TV Rain.

In order to earn revenue, the channel set up a subscription service for viewers starting at 1,000 roubles per year. The channel came up with the marketing slogan “There are 1,000 reasons not to believe in independent television, but just 1,000 roubles will get it for you.” Presently, the channel has 60,000 subscribers with costs of 4,800 roubles per year. Muscovites make up almost 40 percent of total subscribers.

Despite frequent attempts to be shut down by the government and other far-right groups, TV Rain continues to broadcast “sensitive” news topics. For a short time, the channel got evicted from their studio in the Red October area of Moscow and had to be produced out of the co-owner’s apartment.

10/03/2017

Australia has one of the most concentrated media markets in the developed world. Australia's newspapers, radio stations, and television broadcasting networks are owned and controlled by a small handful of rich and powerful people, like Rupert Murdoch. With a new piece of legislation rumored to be passed soon through Australia's Parliament, that handful of people could become even smaller.

Rupert Murdoch, founder of News Corporation and Chairman of 21st Century Fox and Fox News.

The basic premise of this new legislation would be to eliminate restrictions, such as "two out of three" and "reach rule". The two out of three rule stops companies from owning a newspaper, radio and television station in the same city. The reach rule was created to prevent a single television broadcaster from reaching more than 75% of the population of Australia. The current laws are thanks in large part to Paul Keating during his time as Prime Minister in the 1980's.

Big media companies in Australia, such News Corporation (Owned by Murdoch) and Fairfax Media, are for this legislation, claiming that these old laws do not reflect the digital age we now live in. Like other global media companies, classic Australian media must now contend and compete with the rise of the internet and giant companies, such Google and Facebook. They argue that easing up on ownership limitations will allow them greater ability to compete with these bigger, better-funded internet companies. Companies they claim are drawing away advertising dollars. Both News Corp. and Fairfax have reported over the last couple of years revenues have dropped in publication and they are being forced to cut newsroom jobs.

Examples of popular Newspapers in Australia.

However, some are asking what would happen if these Australian media companies gain too much power with this legislation. Experts say that this legislation would do little to help media companies compete with Google, only help large companies weed out smaller local competitors. Australian media would become controlled by monopolies. Nicholas Xenophon, a pro-legislation Australian Senator, secured an 'innovation' package for regional and smaller publishers, worth $60.4 million Australian dollars to be distributed over the next three years. However, "The package has been criticized by Labor (party) politicians as merely providing smaller outlets with equipment and doing nothing to sustain jobs".

Is this legislation helping to break down old limitations and expand Australia's media reach in the world? Or is this legislation taking the little business owner out of the fight and giving all the power to the big media companies?

Hollywood blockbusters at one point were guaranteed success over seas in China but recently this has not shown to be the case.Two big indicators to foreign film companies that this was in fact the case were Dunkirk and Transformers:The Last Knight both films did terrible at the box office as Box Office Mojo reports Dunkirk made only a little over 51 million dollars at the Chinese box office, as well Dunkirk was boycotted by Chinese audiences as Will Butler reported. Transformers:The Last Knight how ever is much more of the indicator to Hollywood and the foreign companies of the failing blockbusters

Transformers is a film series that makes almost all of its profits overseas in China, the series about robots from a another world fighting their battles here on Earth are huge with Chinese audiences so much so that the last entry in the series, Transformers:Age of Extinction, had its last act take place in China. As Paul Schrodt of The Outline reported that film grossed 320 million dollars at the Chinese box office where as Transformers:The Last Knight grossed only 229 million.

Numerous reports have shown that more and more Hollywood blockbusters are failing in China, a good question to ask is of course why is this happening? The answer is quiet clear as The Outline put it "Hollywood's current strategy of trying to appease American and Chinese audiences simultaneously";it is no surprise that while still catering to American audiences Hollywood has been trying much harder to appease Chinese audiences, and this mixed message to filmmakers on who they need to appease has led to many films receiving lukewarm reception in both American and China. As big Hollywood blockbusters fail in China smaller films seem to be succeeding.

Sylvester Stallone is not only a big hit with American audiences he is now a big hit with Chinese audiences and the good thing is he comes cheap. Stallone's 2010 film The Expendables costed Chinese distributors only 3.4 million dollars for distribution rights and the film ended up grossing 216 million dollars and its sequel The Expendables 2 making 330 million dollars as South China Morning Post reported. The success of these cheaper to distribute films coupled with the huge success of domestic films like Wolf Warrior II have led the Chinese film market to rethink its approach to foreign films.

Suzanne Gaber of The Huffington Post talked about this changing relationship between Hollywood and China in her article "Why the China-Hollywood Relationship is Complicated". In the article Gaber talks about how enticing China's potential for a huge audience is to Hollywood, and this is especially important when you understand that American audiences are not taking to summer blockbusters like they use to. Derek Thompson of The Atlantic reported that 2017 was "the worst box office summer in more than a decade", with this past Labor day weekend being reported as the lowest in 20 years. The failing of the blockbuster here in the states shows why Hollywood was so dependent on China to bring in the big bucks. Dwayne Johnson star of this past summers blockbuster flop Baywatch was quoted on twitter as saying it was fine for Baywatch to not do so hot in the states since since it's international opening had not even happened, China end up not even distributing the film.

Hollywood blockbusters are seeming to bomb both in the states and abroad, it seems that China is no longer the safety net for Hollywood like in the past. Hollywood now has to rethink it's films for next summer top guarantee success in America, China and the rest of the world; It will be likely that more films like Spider-Man Homecoming and Wonder Women will be produced seeing how these films preformed extremely well domestically and internationally.

Eritrea is the most censored country in the world according to an article from Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Journalists experience this censorship a lot. Journalists can only write material that they are given by the government. If an Eritrean journalist shares any information whether it be confidential, or trivial, they will face serious prison time with no charge or trial. They are also not allowed to speak to a lawyer, or even their families. According to BBC Country Profiles, Eritrea is the only country in Africa that doesn't have a privately owned news media.

President Isaias Afewerki has been Eritrea's leader since 1993. According to a Qatari news source, Al Jazeera, on September 18, 2001, "...Afewerki and his clique banned seven independent newspapers and imprisoned 11 of the most senior government officials." This action was a direct effect of appointing Naizghi Kiflu as Eritrea's minister of information in early September of 2001. Before becoming minister of information, Kiflu was a callous chief of the Revolutionary Guard, who controlled a terribly brutal military prison. Directly after his appointment, Kiflu demanded a ban on independent newspapers, and imprisonment of said newspapers' journalists. The imprisonment of journalists was and still is a main focus for Eritrean protestors and foreign institutions such as the UN and EU.

Dawit Isaak is a native Eritrean journalist who was put into prison by Eritrea's totalitarian government. Isaak moved from Eritrea to Sweden in 1987, and 5 years later, became a Swedish citizen. Isaak obtained a dual citizenship. When Eritrea became independent in 1993, he travelled back and became a journalist for Setit, which was Eritrea's first independent newspaper. After a while of reporting, he became a part-owner of Setit. In a couple years, on September 23, just 5 days after President Isaias Afewerki banned independent newspapers, Isaak was arrested and put into jail. He was arrested because of his dual citizenship. He was a traitor in the eyes of the government. According to a reporter from Africa News, he was put in horrible living conditions: he was physically restricted, separated, and in blaring heat. Dawit Isaak was tortured in prison. The United Nations, European Union Parliament, and Eritrean citizen have been demanding the release of Isaak because of how unjust the entire situation is.

Dawit Isaak along with other journalists were treated terribly in prison for actions that should not be considered crime. As information spreads across the world, more and more people and countries are stepping up to try forcing the Eritrean government to release these innocent prisoners. From the limited information that has been released, it is safe to say that Dawit Isaak and the others are still in prison, and are still being treated unfairly and brutally.

China is very concerned with the spread of violence, rumors, and pornography through social media platforms. China feels that national security and social order are being threatened. In the article “China Investigates Top Local Social Media Sites in Push to Control Content” by Cate Cadell, she discusses China’s most popular media platforms that are under investigation for not adhering to the standard computer network regulations. Meetings are currently being held in China regarding the spread of false political news and the effects it may have on social order. China is drawing a line for social media content people can publish and access.

Many of China's social media platforms are being watched closely to insure control and safety. This includes WeChat (940 million users) and Weibo (350 million users), which can be considered the most popular social media platforms in China. Since Facebook and Twitter have been restricted in China, WeChat and Weibo were quickly able to flourish. WeChat is a Chinese application for instant messaging which is similar to WhatsApp. Weibo is a microblogging platform which can be compared to Twitter.

President Xi Jinping of China has made it clear that strengthening cyber laws will be one of his main priorities. China has officially forbidden any social media content that is seen as immoral, destructive, and disrespectful to the Communist Party. Baidu's forum site Tieba is under investigation by China’s Cyberspace Administration for not obeying the strict legislation. Baidu stated an apology and is currently trying to correct the situation through stricter surveillance. Baidu is the most popular search engine in China. Baidu is similar to Google but Baidu remains dominant and continues to grow in China. Baidu makes an effort to obey all cyber laws while Google's capacity is strictly limited due to freedom of speech issues.